Body-fat measurements as better way than BMI
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The gym we joined recently has one of those spiffy scanners that track fat & muscle percentages.
Itâs certainly fun to see measurable results, and most def more reliable than the BMI.
I do wonder how much of the progress weâd made has been set back by our summer adventures, however. Zero workouts, thatâs for sure 
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Are you getting to do a lot of walking? The walkability of European cities is a nice bonus when I get to travel there. So much so that I donât typically gain any weight from sampling foods we donât get at home. Though I donât lose any weight, either.
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BMI has always been kind of capricious. I like body fat percentages better.
I have an Omron scale that gives similar body fat percentage numbers to what the nurse at the hospital/trainer at Golds gave me. Not the same but close.
I use it to get an idea of the trend rather than an exact number and for that it is useful.
But mine is an older 2 point measurement type, just one pad for each foot.
Maybe the 4 point (add 2 hand grips to hold) are more accurate?
I think my 2 point is good enough for my use, though.
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BIA is not a good indicator of body fat % on an absolute basis, in fact it might be the worst, and only slight better than visual spot checks. But if a person is consistent in using the same BIA measuring platform, it can certainly measure trends in body fat % (just like step count trackers are not always accurate, but if you use the same one consistently, they can certain provide a visual trend).
The gold standard has always been DEXA, followed by hydrostatic measurements, and then skin calipers, and lastly BIA.
But no matter how accurate or inaccurate the method of measurement, the real import from such measurements should be to gauge the trend in body fat %. For 99% of the population, we want that line to be trending down.
Iâve always said that after a certain age (perhaps 55, or maybe even 50), no one should be ever on a diet to lose weight, but simply to maintain (or ideally even gain) muscle mass.
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At this point a body composition DEXA scan (as opposed to an Rx DEXA done for osteoporosis detection) and a BIA scan cost about the same, around $50US. The upside of the DEXA is that it will let you know where youâre carrying your fat, not just how much fat youâre carrying. The upside of the BIA is that thereâs no radiation exposure. But Iâve read that the DEXA exposure is only about the same as one normal dayâs ambient exposure, so it seems to be a better way to know where you are in terms of fat.
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Have you had a Body Fat measurement via BodPod?
I have had my Body Fat measured this way 3 times so far.
I use the BodPod in combination with BMI, a medical scale, and a measuring tape, to assess my current state.
Opinion: I think the BodPod works better at determining fat percentage for men of all ages, than it does for postmenopausal women, who might have their fat shift to their bust, bellies and backs, while maintaining muscle in their limbs. We will see how much my BodPod fat percentage changes, from where it is, once my BMI is back to 25.
My BodPod number considers me a lot fatter than my BMI number or Waist to Hip ratio suggests.
I havenât used DEXA yet.
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My PCP has one of those scales. It called me obese with a BMI of 20.0! The trainer at my rehab said the only way to truly measure body fat measurement is by hydrostatic measurement. He was unimpressed by the device my PCP had. Iâm not saying BMI is right; just that measuring body fat % is difficult.
BMI is not very useful on an individual basis. There are too many variables across individuals for such a simple stat to be relevant.
HoweverâŚ
It IS useful longitudinally. That is, if you want to track population trends of a large group of people over a longer period of time. The number itself may not have much meaning in isolation, but you can use it to determine that, say white American males have increased more quickly than white French males, which might be useful when studying cultural diets or showing a change when some new ingredient was introduced, like high fructose corn syrup or whatever.
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More or less. My Vespa is a bit more fun, especially for destinations/nabes further away.
Last year, I didnât have access to my scooter for the entire month of May, so we averaged 10-15K a day. Not so much once I got it back 
And I have found that, no matter how many steps, no matter how many workouts⌠weight loss is entirely about food intake. Exercise is good and healthy, but unless you spend 4-5 hours at the gym every day, itâs irrelevant.
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This is not a scale. Itâs scanner where you have to put your feet on markers, and hold onto grips with both hands for a minute or so.
It showed me that my right arm has more muscle than my left (no duh, my right arm is my dominant one for sports, as is my right leg), for example. Fat percentage has gone down minimally.
My PIC, being a man, already gained 2lbs of muscle in one month.
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Ha, maybe you live in my house and we just havenât realized it yet. 
Because the same dang thing happens with my husband and me. He gains muscle so much more easily than I can.
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That because our physiology is different. I look forward to building more muscle when we get back. Strength, balance, and stamina are important, especially at my age
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Thatâs not our experience - we havenât changed how much we eat but have done now for a longer time very regular workouts at the gym burning about 500-600 cal per work out and if you do it 4-5 times a week you have the same effect as fasting 1-1.5 days a week but in addition you are building muscle mass which increases your âburn rateâ and we have seen consistent weight loss
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Even when I exercised religiously and was in way better shape, I would always look at the âcalories burnedâ number on the digital treadmill, and realize that an hour of drudgery has worked off⌠two regular peanut butter cups. Or one Big Cup.
The exercise made me feel better (eventually. Still miserable in the moment), but what got the weight off was a bunch of salad.
Itâs just way WAY easier to control inputs than outputs. I may not LIKE not having that cookie, but I like it more than sweating.
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Everyoneâs experience is different. Iâve not noticed any weight loss at all adding exercise and not changing my diet â which is already about as healthy as can be, and we donât tend to pig out. I look at the restaurant meals you post in WFD & Iâd be full after the first 2-3 courses.
Iâve lost TPSTOW, however, by eating less and⌠not working out at all. This summer I easily dropped 6-8 lbs in less than 2 months bc I barely had any appetite and therefore ate like a bird 
I also have absolutely zero interest in fasting.
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How often and long do you exercise? In our experience, it took about a month of 4-5 45-60 minutes sessions each week that we started to see an effect. But than is was quite consistent - ultimately losing weight is through calorie deficit either through more exercise or less eating
On average at the time? 3-4 times a week for 60-90 min. Also cut weekly alcohol intake by about 80%
Didnât matter
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Iâm back to eating how I did in 2004, the last time I was in my healthy BMI zone for an extended period of time. I kept the weight off for 2 years.
The weight started creeping back around the time Chowhound was revamped, became a bit more engaging, and I started attending Chow meetups.
Looking back, I can see that I wanted to meet people. Iâm not a drinker. I say this , because drinking and clubbing was the main past time for many Torontonians in their 30s 20 years ago. The sports clubs, for people who like to play competitive sports also involve as much drinking as activity, as do the ski clubs.
It was easy and fun to meet up once or twice a month with local Chowhounds to try new restaurants, and most of them werenât into drinking a lot. So we ate. Then around a dozen of us broke off from the main group. and started hosting potlucks, Cake Days, Pie Days and so on. Trips to other cities with spreadsheets covering bakeries. Gelato tastings. I was active and walking a lot the whole time, and I used to ski a lot, but that wasnât enough to zero out the intake.
I took baby steps along the way. I stopped eating sweet breakfasts and ordering dessert for myself after meals around 2014. I have been checking in with a dietician monthly since January 2018. I get my body fat measured in a BodPod once a year.
It wasnât until I had some sort of switch flip recently, where I realized I was back in my 2004 state of mind.
More Eat Delicious Healthy Food to Live, than Live to Eat.
Tons of salad, and a fair amount of protein. A Mediterranean diet 90 percent of the time.
The weight is finally starting to come off.
I might fall off the wagon again, but I will make hay while the sun shines.
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Testosterone is key to this physiology of being able to build muscle. Apparently there are now âclinicsâ where people can access testosterone âtreatmentsâ. A doctor recently applied to work in my department outside of the usual training programme. The departmental head did some online background searching and found this doctor was running a side hustle dispensing testosterone in a âclinicâ. We didnât end up hiring this person.
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